This is a collection of my recipes. Many are quite old, and have been handed down through generations of my very Southern family. There are others that I have collected over decades of cooking. The purpose of this blog is to preserve and pass them on to the younger generations of my family, and to share with old and new friends. You are welcome and appreciated here. I hope you will join my blog, and visit often! Click JOIN THIS SITE below to join this group of friends who love food!

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

This recipe for the Queen of Southern cakes has been in my family for more than 100 years. It was always among the many delicious home made dishes on the tables at Thomas/Hodges family reunions. My grandmother always made it for me on my birthday, and as I will be 69 years old tomorrow, I wanted to share it on my blog. Maybe one of you awesome cooks out there will make one for me! I thought this recipe was lost forever, but my cousin and her mother still make it, and were kind enough to share it with me. Thank you Billie and littlecousin!

NOTE: I just received a message from someone who made this cake. She said her icing was too thin, but it really is more akin to a glaze than a frosting. You have to spoon it on the layers over and over until it sets. This recipe is more than 100 years old, and it has always been written this way, so it didn't occur to me to add any further instruction. I do apologize for the error. My cousin told me today that this cake is entered in her church auction every year, and it always sets off a bidding war between two well-to-do gentlemen in particular. This year, this cake sold for $500.00! My grandmother and her kinswomen would love that!

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients, except coconut, together in large sauce pan. Bring to boil and cook about 1-2 min. Let cool a bit. Spoon some coconut juice on layers, then spoon icing on layers, adding fresh grated coconut on each layer. Let cake stand in cold room overnight to soak, wrap in foil paper and refrigerate.

26 comments:

Hi Patsy,This is an awesome Coconut Cake, it looks delicious! Hope you are having a great holiday week end. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope you will come back soon!Miz HelenA New Follower

Coconut juice is the liquid inside the coconut. It is sold in some stores as a canned drink. They are generally sold in Thai and Vietnamese grocery stores. The best is to get it straight from the coconut.

Coconut milk comes from grating the meat of the coconut. Coconut milk can be prepared by directly squeezing grated coconut meat through cheesecloth. It is high in fat content and tastes nothing like coconut juice.

I am sorry to hear you had a problem, and that it took me so long to respond. Teh icing is supposed to be thin...I should have noted that in the post. This recipe is VERY old, and the icing is more akin to a glaze. You just keep spooning it over the cake until as much as possible adheres. I hope it worked out. I just talked to my cousin who's mother had preserved the recipe. She said their church has an auction every year, and this cake always starts a bidding war. It sold for $500 this year! It is GOOD. Let me know how yours came out. I do apologize that I did not make it clear. Sincerely, Patsy

I've had this as a child, when we lived in Alabama! However, instead of glaze it was fresh whipped cream used as a frosting, with the freshly grated coconut over that, and I remember it to this day! This is a delicious cake.

Where do you get coconut juice? Is it the liquid inside a whole coconut? Is it sweetened at all? Are there any suitable substitutions that are easily purchased? Can't wait to make this....my Gramme made a cake that sounds very similar but her cake was square....and had four layers.

Where do you get coconut juice? Is it the liquid inside a whole coconut? Is it sweetened at all? Are there any suitable substitutions that are easily purchased? Can't wait to make this....my Gramme made a cake that sounds very similar but her cake was square....and had four layers.

Thanks for a great recipe! It was delicious but I had one problem: the cake itself was a bit crumbly. I followed the directions exactly except I couldn't find White Lily flour. I looked up the contents of White Lily flour and bought one similar. Could that still be the cause? perhaps I broke the cardinal rule and left it in a minute too long? Or, any other ideas to make it a bit moister? Thank you!

My wife, a native southerner in her late 60s, remembers a coconut cake her grandmother used to make. "And she started with a real coconut!" is the way the story goes. So I'm hoping to use your recipe--and a real coconut--to make her a cake for her birthday next week. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

My wife, a native southerner in her late 60s, remembers a coconut cake her grandmother used to make. "And she started with a real coconut!" is the way the story goes. So I'm hoping to use your recipe--and a real coconut--to make her a cake for her birthday next week. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

I think I see the problem some people are having. This recipe makes a cake with an almost clear icing. The picture that is with the recipe is not how this recipe is supposed to look. Is this correct or have I gotten all mixed up? Thanks so much for the recipe -It's just like granny's!

About Me

I am a wife, (married to my high school sweetheart for 50+ years) mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I began cooking when I was eleven years old. I enjoyed watching, and learning from, my Grandmother in her kitchen. After I married, I did the same to learn my husband's favorite dishes from his Mom and Dad. A lot of "a pinch of this, and a little of that" recipes. Many of those Southern recipes are on this blog. Cooking is fun, creative, and an expression of love for me. Good food makes
life even more fun!
This not a traditional step by step photo blog...but just a way to share recipes with family and friends.